Horizon Oil Sands

The Horizon Oil Sands Project is located 80 km northwest of Fort McMurray, in Northern Alberta’s Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. The Horizon Project is situated on leases containing over 6 billion barrels of mineable oil reserves, which will produce 232,000 barrels per day of light sweet crude oil for over 40 years.

A 3.3 billion barrels of proved and probable bitumen reserves are located on the leases associated with the first threephases of the Horizon Project. Canadian Natural will extract a 2 billion barrels of mineable reserves and 1 billion barrels of in-situ reserves.

The Horizon Project is designed as a phased development, supporting a three phases, and involves four major components: surface mining and bitumen processing, in-situ operations, an upgrader, and associated infrastructure. Also the project encompasses four operational segments: minesite, extraction, primary upgrading and secondary upgrading.

The three phases are:- Phase 1 produced a 110,000 bbl/d of 34° API light, sweet synthetic crude oil (SCO), with total construction and start up cost of $9.7 billion.- Phase 2 would increase production to 155,000 bbl/d of SCO.- Phase 3 would further increase production to 232,000 bbl/d of SCO.

Development Milestones

FEED

6/25/2004

Canadian Natural Resources Limited awarded Fluor Corporation a contract to provide design services related to a portion of the utilities and offsites of CNRL's Horizon Oil Sands project.

Contracts

2/11/2005

Canadian Natural Resources Limited awarded Technip two contracts worth approximately Canadian dollar 1,070 million (€700 million) for upgrading facilities and a hydrogen unit for the Horizon Oil Sands Project.

Technip has been awarded by Canadian Natural Resources an Engineering and Procurement contract for the expansion of a facility converting heavy oil into lighter synthetic crude (upgrader). It is part of Tranche 2 of the Horizon project. The engineering, procurement and supply of equipment and materials activities, worth approximately €130 million, will be charged on a lump sum basis. The contract covered four new units: a gas recovery unit, a butane treating unit, sulphur recovery facilities, and a carbon dioxide (CO2) capture unit.

5/2/2011

Technip has been awarded by Canadian Natural Resources an engineering, procurement and construction support services contract, worth approximately €100 million, for the Horizon project. The contract covered the expansion of the existing delayed coking unit, completed by Technip in 2008.

9/21/2011

Saipem had been awarded an EPC Lump Sum contract. The engineering, procurement and construction contract included of a Secondary Upgrader with a production capacity of 42,599 BPSD of Hydrotreated Gas Oil, as part of the Horizon Oil Sands Project - Hydrotreater Phase 2.

5/17/2001Execution

Canadian Natural Resources Limited issued a public disclosuredocument for its Horizon Oil Sands Project.

Canadian Natural Resources Company’s Board of Directors approved the management to proceed with phase 1 of the Horizon Oil Sands project.

8/23/2005SubContract

Canadian Natural Resources Limited reached an agreement with Pembina Pipeline Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pembina Pipeline Income Fund, to provide pipeline transportation service for Horizon Oil Sands Project. A branch of Alberta Oil Sands Pipeline (AOSPL) would combined with a pipeline constructed from the Horizon Project site down to the AOSPL Terminal

The initial term of the agreement is 25 years, commencing on the in-service date. There is an option to renew the agreement for successive 10 year terms, Canadian Natural has the right to request incremental expansions of the Horizon Pipeline based upon applicable National Energy Board approved multi-pipeline economics.

10/3/2012Execution

The Horizon project planned maintenance is scheduled to commence on 11 October 2012. The proactive maintenance will require temporary curtailment of production, and is targeted to be completed in twelve days followed by a return to full production.

10/3/2012SubContract

Canadian Natural has entered into a long-term gas processing agreement with a North American infrastructure company. Under this agreement, Williams Energy Canada will invest approximately $500 to $600 million to extract, transport, fractionate, own and market natural gas liquids (NGLs) and olefins captured from the offgas produced at the upgrader at Horizon.

10/26/2012Execution

Canadian Natural Resources has successfully completed the planned maintenance activities at its Horizon Oil Sands Project on schedule and on cost. The Coker feed has commenced as the plant returns to targeted full production of 115,000 barrels per day of Synthetic Crude Oil (SCO) and the company continues its commitment to safe, steady and reliable operations.

3/30/2015Execution

Horizon achieved record production of 134,166 bbl/d of SCO in 1Q 2015, an increase of 19% from Q1/14 levels and an increase of 5% from Q4/14 levels. Horizon Phase 2/3 expansion is 60% physically complete as at Q1/15. Phase 2A is a coker expansion that was originally scheduled to be completed in mid-2015. Phase 2B is 54% physically complete. Phase 3 is on track and on schedule. This Phase is 51% physically complete, and includes the addition of extraction trains. This phase is targeted to increase production capacity by 80,000 bbl/d in late 2017.

Production

2/28/2009

Canadian Natural achieved first synthetic crude oil production at the Horizon Oil Sands Project.

3/18/2009

Canadian Natural commenced first shipment of synthetic crude oil from Horizon to the sales pipeline.

On 25 June 2004, Canadian Natural Resources Limited awarded Fluor Corporation a contract to provide design services related to a portion of the utilities and offsites of CNRL's Horizon Oil Sands project. The value of the award was not disclosed. The contract included engineering design specifications on the project's utilities and offsite facilities including those related to tankage, heat integration, flare and relief, electrical distribution, cooling, piping and underground systems.

Saipem S.P.A.

On 21 September 2011, Saipem had been awarded an EPC Lump Sum contract by Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. The engineering, procurement and construction contract included of a Secondary Upgrader with a production capacity of 42,599 BPSD of Hydrotreated Gas Oil, as part of the Horizon Oil Sands Project - Hydrotreater Phase 2.
The scope of the project included 3 units, to be built within the existing complex: Gas Oil Hydrotreating Unit (GOHTU), Common facilities (Substation & Rib), Wash Water and Rich Amine System and the Interconnecting Piperack. The project will be completed in 44 months.

SNC-Lavalin

550 M

On 14 April 2005, SNC-Lavalin and its joint venture partner, Snamprogetti Canada Inc., was awarded a lump sum contract by Canadian Natural Resources Limited to provide engineering, procurement and construction management services for the Horizon Oil Sands Project. The value of the joint venture’s lump sum contract plus the field construction is about $550 million.
The Secondary Upgrade, consisting of three hydrotreaters to process 110,000 barrels/day of feedstock from the Primary Upgrade into synthetic crude components.

Technip

On 11 February 2005, Canadian Natural Resources Limited awarded Technip two contracts worth approximately Canadian dollar 1,070 million (€700 million) for upgrading facilities and a hydrogen unit for the Horizon Oil Sands Project.
- The first contract, worth approximately Canadian dollar 870 million, is for a diluent recovery unit (DRU), which used to liquefy heavy crude oil from bitumen sands, and a delayed coking unit (DCU), which upgraded the heavy crude oil into valuable liquid hydrocarbon products through coke extraction.
- The second contract, worth approximately Canadian dollar 200 million, covered a hydrogen unit which based on Technip’s proprietary technology, and produced high purity hydrogen, which then be used to upgrade Athabasca Bitumen to sweet synthetic crude oil.

Technip

Technip has been awarded by Canadian Natural Resources an engineering, procurement and construction support services contract, worth approximately €100 million, for the Horizon project. The contract covered the expansion of the existing delayed coking unit, completed by Technip in 2008.

Technip

Technip has been awarded by Canadian Natural Resources an Engineering and Procurement contract for the expansion of a facility converting heavy oil into lighter synthetic crude (upgrader). It is part of Tranche 2 of the Horizon project. The engineering, procurement and supply of equipment and materials activities, worth approximately €130 million, will be charged on a lump sum basis. The contract covered four new units: a gas recovery unit, a butane treating unit, sulphur recovery facilities, and a carbon dioxide (CO2) capture unit.

Williams Partners L.P.

Canadian Natural has entered into a long-term gas processing agreement with a North American infrastructure company. Under this agreement, Williams Energy Canada will invest approximately $500 to $600 million to extract, transport, fractionate, own and market natural gas liquids (NGLs) and olefins captured from the offgas produced at the upgrader at Horizon.
In exchange for the NGLs and olefins transferred to Williams, Canadian Natural will receive methane in return which will be used as fuel for its Horizon operations. The CO2 and sulphur emissions will be reduced, following the targeted expansion of Horizon, by approximately 200,000 tonnes per year of CO2 and 2,000 tonnes per year of sulphur through the capture of offgas.
Williams plans to build a new liquids extraction plant with supporting facilities near Canadian Natural’s upgrader and extend an existing pipeline to enable the transportation of the NGL/olefins mixture to a facility located near Edmonton, Alberta.